A manufacturing worker died after his head was crushed by a cardboard processing machine on Feb. 11, 2023.
The incident could have been avoided, had safety measures been followed, a coroner’s court found.
Recent findings by State Coroner Adam Nakhoda ruled the death a work-related misadventure, reported CNA.
The deceased, a 34-year-old Chinese national named Sun Zaitao, was said to have gotten his head caught in the machine while he was leaning in through a viewing window.
Leaned in to clear waste
Sun worked as a production fitter for AMB Packaging, a paper and cardboard container and box manufacturer located at 17 Senoko Loop, according to CNA.
He was specifically trained and tasked to operate the machine that killed him — the Tai Yi TGF High Speed Flexo Printer Slotter Rotary Die-Cutter Inline with Folder Gluer machine.
Purchased in 2019, the meters-long machine turned corrugated cardboard into cartons by cutting, glueing, folding, and stacking the cardboard.
At the section where the machine stacked bundles, there was a viewing window which was 0.9m tall and 0.8m wide.
Image via WSH Council
At about 4:20pm on Feb. 11, 2023, CCTV footage showed Sun extending his upper body through this window while the machine was in operation, reported CNA.
It appeared that Sun was trying to clear cardboard waste that had built up, said the coroner.
“It was likely that Mr Sun’s head was then caught by the upward moving collection mechanism and was then trapped between the collection mechanism and the stationary pair of metal pieces.”
The man was found dead in the bundle stacker area, where his body had either fallen or had been dragged by the machine’s moving parts, said CNA.
Safety feature bypassed
The machine’s window had an interlocking guard that would stop the machine if the window was opened.
During investigations into Sun’s death, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) found that the guard had been tampered with, reported CNA.
Typically, the machine needed to be stopped in order for workers to remove cardboard waste that accumulated by the window.
However, a key had been kept inserted into a device by the window frame.
This made sure that the window would remain open even when the machine was running, so that workers could clear the waste without stalling its operation.
The coroner’s evidence revealed that the guard had been bypassed since September 2019, around the time the factory started using the machine.
In CCTV footage, Sun and a printer supervisor were seen extending their upper body into the window five and 11 times respectively between January and February 2022, said CNA.
The Workplace Health and Safety Council (WSH Council) issued an alert on Feb. 21, 2022 to raise awareness of the risk control measures to be taken to prevent a similar accident, stated CNA.
The council recommended equipping machines with safety devices like machine guards, presence sensors, and audio-visual warning systems which would flag dangerous situations.
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Top images via Foursquare and WSH Council
